Paint mixing apparatus



March 30, 1965 A. A. DEDOES 3,175,808

PAINT MIXING APPARATUS Filed Se t. 18, 1963 w INVENTOR jzPA/OW LEM? 3,175,808 PAINT MIXING APPARATUS Arnold A. Dedoes, 207 6 W. Eleven Mile Road, Berkley, Mich. Filed Sept. 18, 1063, Ser. No. 309,720 8 Claims. (Cl. 259-107) This invention relates to improvements in paint mixing apparatus and more particularly to a novel stirrer arrangement for operating in a commercial paint can to more thoroughly mix the contents thereof prior to dispensing.

Paint mixing apparatus to which the present invention may be applied is shown in my prior Patent No. 3,041,052, filed July 10, 1959, wherein there is shown a commercial type of power driven stirrer element comprising a relatively fixed baffle blade member operated in conjunction with a movable or rotatable stirrer blade member mounted on the same vertical stirrer axis to create a more efficient stirring action of the materials in the can. Stirrers of this character have heretofore had rigid metal blades and since the device of the present invention is used in commercial paint cans which frequently have large dents in the sides thereof or otherwise deformed in shipping, these irregular surfaces impede the operation of the stirrer blades moving closely adjacent to the sides of the can and in some instances have prevented the use of automatic stirrers. These prior blades have been made of sheet metal and welded to the stirrer shaft and do not yield sufficiently when encountering an obstruction in the side of the can or in the material itself and thus damage the stirrer and many times injure the power driving mechanism.

One important object of the present invention is to provide a novel form of stirrer assembly having plane rotat able blades of yieldable plastic material interspaced with relatively stationary blades swingably mounted on the stirrer shaft axis and swing as a semi-rigid unit relative thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide coacting spaced apart stirrer blades of such a length so that when they move 180 apart, alternate channels or spaces are provided between the ends of the blades and the sides of the receptacle in which they are operating for creating a surging action.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved stirrer element of the character designated in which the stirrer blades shall be formed of a yieldable plastic material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stirrer of the character designated wherein the relatively stationary blade sections shall be provided with a longitudinally open hub of yieldable material so that the blade may be flexed and thus be attached to and detached from the rotatable stirrer shaft to facilitate the assembly of the stirrer apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stirrer element of the character designated which shall be more efiiciently operated in paint cans to flex and pass over bstructions therein with a minimum liability of damage to the apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stirrer assembly of the character designated in which the rotary stirrer shaft element and the spaced apart blades supported thereon shall be cast or molded together as a unit integral construction.

Zi;l75,808 Patented Mar. 30, 1965 A further object of the invention is to provide a plastic stirrer assembly comprising two separate molded or cast plastic units, one unit consisting of a rotary shaft having spaced apart blades formed integral therewith and another unit consisting of spaced apart blades which may be snapped on the vertical stirrer shaft and have its spaced apart blades interspaced with the fixed blade elements on the rotary shaft.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a two part stirrer assembly in which one of the units shall be assembled to the other by a snap-on connection and thus reduce to a minimum the cost of assembly production.

These and other objects of the invention will be more manifest from the following specification and drawings and more clearly set forth in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view in elevation of a commercial container including the stirrer mechanism with the blades in a plane position;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of the relative positions of the two stirrer units in a paint can with one of the parts retained by a stop;

FIGURE 3 is a view in elevation of the attachable relatively stationary unit shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of FIGURE 3 of the stationary stirrer element shown in FIGURE 3 and attached to the driven rotary stirrer shaft;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 4 showing the swingable blade element partially flexed to assemble the unit to the rotary driven stirrer shaft; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View showing a section of the yieldable material slotted bearing portion of the snapon swingable stirrer blade.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings there is shown a novel stirrer apparatus 10 located for operation in a commercial paint can 11 indicated in dotted lines. The can 11 iscovered by a novel form of detachable cover 12 which includes an improved pouring arrangement and cooperating parts as shown in my copending application Scr. No. 801,811, filed March 25, 1959. This novel cover and the can 11 associated therewith are adapted for operation in a power driven commercial apparatus as well understood in this art. The stirrer assembly 10 is arranged for connection with an overhead power driven mechanism indicated by a detachable hinged coupling connection 13, including a hinge part 14 and a forked part 15 connected to a vertically disposed rotary stirrer shaft 16 and held thereon by a set screw 17, as fully set forth in my c0- pending application.

The cover 12 includes a bearing support 18 for the vertically disposed stirrer assembly constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention. This cover also includes a pouring spout 10 and its associated cover 20 operated by a lever 21 pivotally mounted in an open depending V-shaped depression 22 formed therein and extending into the container 10 to form a stop 23 for the stirrer as hereinafter more fully described.

The stirrer unit assembly 10 is carried by a vertically disposed shaft 16 and consists of two parts, one relatively stationary unit as indicated by the blades 25 and 26 and the other a rotatable part as indicated by the spaced apart rotatable blades 27 and 28 formed integral with the shaft 16. The stationary part includes the two spaced-apart vertically disposed blades 25 and 26 which are in effect -19 eccentric to the shaft axis 16 and these blade sections are connected together by a peripherally disposed transverse web or flanged section 29. The two blades 25 and 26 and the connecting web section 29 form an integral swingable unit controlled by the depending stop element 23 on the cover 12.

The entire stirrer unit is formed of moldable plastic material which may flex in accordance with the present invention when the material being stirred is of unyielding consistency or any deformity exists in the can structure in which the stirrer may be operating. In addition to the strengthening feature of the connecting web 29, this web may also form a scraper moving with limited movement in close proximity to the sides of the paint can whenever the can may be turned bodily on its support. The central or axis bearing portion of the blades 25 and 26 is reinforced by a hub portion 30 of plastic material and includes an open arcuate bearing as indicated by the slot 31, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6. This open arcuate section is slightly smaller than the diameter of the supporting shaft 16 and thus provides for yieldable application to the shaft so that it may be conveniently assembled without the aid of any tools and thus materially reduce the cost of assembling such apparatus.

The fixed blades 25 and 26 are substantially rectangular in shape and have a longer portion 32 connecting the web 29 at one side of the axis and the other portion is shorter as indicated by the numeral 33 and its outer edge is spaced some distance from the periphery of the can side It). The rotatable blades 27 and 28 are formed as a rigid and integral unit part with the plastic vertical drive shaft 16. It will be noted that since the rotatable blades 27 and 28 are formed integral with the driving shaft 16 and lower blade 28 also includes a special reinforcement portion 34 for strengthening the lower blade. Enlarged annular bead portions 35, 36 and 37 are spaced apart on the shaft 16 and formed integral therewith. These beads also form a bearing support for the relatively stationary blade or baffle members 25 and 26 interspaced with the rotatable blades.

One important feature of the present stirrer arrangement of providing the swingable stationary bafile blades interleaved and spaced between the rotatable blade sections is that each blade is eccentrically mounted on the central operating shaft to provide long and short portions so that alternate peripheral spaces 38, 39, 4t and 411 are provided at the ends of the stirrer blades as shown in FIGURE 1. This novel arrangement of the interaction of the two blade units produces a positive swirling action of the fluid in the container and thus provides for a more elfcient and uniform mixing of the material. Also it will be noted that since the cooperating blades are rectangular in shape, they provide square peripheral edges in close proximity to effect a relatively sharp cutting action of the fluid passing between the blades at each complete rotation of the movable blades relative to the stationary baflie blades.

Another'important feature of the present construction is that all the stirrer parts are made of moldable plastic material which will flex under any undue pressure conditions caused by the material itself in the can or due to any deformity in the can sides which may impede the rotation of the stirrer elements.

Another important feature of the plastic stirrer construction is the snap-on feature wherein the fixed blade unit is assembled to the rotatable shaft 16 by merely snapping the unit onto the shaft by flexing the yieldable hearing 30, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 6. This arrangement not only reduces the cost of manufacture of the blade parts but also facilitates assembly and a resultant reduc tion of manufacturing costs of assembly, which is a very important item in this highly competitive industry.

Another advantage of the eccentric mounting of the rotary stirrer blade and the baffle blades on the central shaft 16 is that the unit assembly may be more readily inserted into and removed from any associated paint can. For example, most all commercial paint cans that applicant is aware of have an inturned groove flange indicated in dotted lines by the numeral 16. This flange in any size is a substantial obstruction to the insertion of the stirrer into the cans of the present day kind, with a result that the rotary stirrer blade assembly must be reduced in overall diameter and thus the blade ends do not reach the peripheral sides of the container 11 and only one end of said blades shall move in close contact therewith to efiectively stir the contents as set forth in applicants novel stirrer apparatus.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of my novel mixing blade construction, it is obvious that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as fully set forth in the claims. For example, the stirrer assembly may be manually operated by simply replacing the power coupling 13 by an ordinary hand crank by releasing the set screw 17 on the shaft 16.

What is claimed is:

1. A plastic stirrer apparatus comprising a rotary shaft of semi-rigid plastic material, spaced apart plastic blade elements formed integral with said shaft and rotatable therewith, other spaced apart plastic battle blade elements substantially coextensive in size and shape with said rotary blades and swingably mounted on said shaft, said swingable blades being interleaved with said rotary blades for relative movement therewith, and web shaped means connecting and reinforcing the adjacent ends of said swingable blades so as to move the same as a rigid unit.

2. A plastic stirrer apparatus comprising a rotary shaft of semi-rigid plastic material, spaced apart plastic blade elements formed integral with said shaft and rotatable therewith, other spaced apart plastic b-aflie blade elements substantially coextensive in size and shape with said rotary blades and swingaoly mounted on said shaft, said swingable blades being interleaved with said rotary blades for relative movement therewith, web shaped means connecting and reinforcing the adjacent ends of said swingable blades so as to move the same as a rigid unit, and means for preventing rotation of the swingable bafile blade members.

3. For use in power driven machine for mixing liquids in a commercial container, a two-part plastic stirrer assembly comprising a stirrer shaft, spaced apart laterally extending blade elements formed integrally with said shaft,

and movable detachable bafile blade elements spaced apart and interleaved with said rotary blades for relative movement therewith, and means for attaching said movable blades to said stirrer shaft for swingable movement therewith,

4. A stirrer assembly of the character described in claim 3 in which the detachable blade elements include a vertically slotted hub portion which shall be flexible to fit over and be retained by said stirrer shaft.

5. Apparatus of the character described in claim 3 including annular spaced apart plastic bearing members formed integrally with said shaft and located to support the swingable blades and maintain a predetermined clearance between the relative rotative movement of the blades.

6. In an apparatus for stirring paint in a commercial container, a vertically disposed rotatable stirrer shaft, means at the upper end of said shaft for coupling said shaft to a rotary power element, vertically disposed spaced apart blade elements formed integrally with said shaft and extending laterally therefrom, one of said blades having one end edge moving adjacent the peripheral side of said container and the bottom edge of said blade moving adjacent the bottom wall of said container, other vertically disposed spaced apart baflie blade elements swingably mounted on said stirrer shaft and interspaced between the edges of said rotatable blades, and means for rigidly connecting said swingable blades together as a unit.

iiiv

7. In an apparatus for stirring paint in a commercial container, a vertically disposed rotatable stirrer shaft, means at the upper end of said shaft for coupling said shaft to a rotary power element, vertically disposed spaced apart blade elements formed integrally with said shaft and extending laterally therefrom, one of said blades having one end edge moving adjacent the peripheral side of said container and the opposite end of said blade terminating a distance from the opposite peripheral side of said container, other vertically disposed spaced apart ballle blade elements swingably mounted on said stirrer shaft and interspaced between the edges of said rotatable blades, means for rigidly connecting said swingable blades together as a unit, and means for engaging the top blade for limiting the horizontal swinging movement of said swingable blades.

eral walls of the container in Which the stirrer operates.

ReEerences Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,070,728 8/13 Preston 259-132 1,510,081 9/24 Ruland.

1,651,816 12/27 Goldman 259-107 X 3,041,052 6/62 Dedoes 259-422 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PLASTIC STIRRER APPARATUS COMPRISING A ROTARY SHAFT OF SEMI-RIGID PLATIC MATERIAL, SPACED APART PLASTIC BLADE ELEMENTS FORMED INTEGRAL WITH SAID SHAFT AND ROTATABLE THEREWITH, OTHER SPACED APART PLASTIC BAFFLE BLADE ELEMENTS SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE IN SIZE AND SHAPE WITH SAID ROTARY BLADES AND SWINGABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, SAID SWINGABLE BLADES BEING INTERLEAVED WITH SAID ROTARY BLADES FOR RELATIVE MOVEMENT THEREWITH, AND WEB SHAPED MEANS CONNECTING AND REINFORCING THE ADJACENT ENDS OF SAID SWINGABLE BLADES SO AS TO MOVE THE SAME AS A RIGID UNIT. 